Cleveland-Marshall College of Law lost a valued community member when Elisabeth Dreyfuss '78 passed away on December 17 at the age of 82. After graduating from law school, Elisabeth spent 16 years at C|M|LAW as Assistant Dean for Community Education in the Law and Director of the Street Law Program
Elisabeth was drawn to Street Law because she saw that knowledge of the law could be valuable to students and youth who struggled with the hazards of growing up in troubled times. She felt Street Law could help this group of youngsters be safer and more productive citizens by teaching them about their rights within the law, and it could set them on course for law-related professions.
Through her work with Street Law, she taught law students the skills they needed to teach fundamental principles of law to primary and secondary students across Northeast Ohio. These included mediation and non-violent dispute resolution, and offered students opportunities to participate locally and nationally in mock trials. Elisabeth served for many years on the national Street Law Advisory Board and was honored for her enthusiastic replication in Ohio of the clinical Street Law program pioneered at Georgetown University School of Law.
In 1993, Elisabeth was invited to lecture on her work to the law faculty and students at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. She served locally on the boards of Cleveland Works, The City Club of Cleveland, and the Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services Board of Cuyahoga County and nationally on the board of Amnesty International USA. Elisabeth served as president of the board for The City Club of Cleveland in 1989.
Before attending, Elisabeth was a teacher and a curriculum specialist for the Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District and a lecturer in history at Adirondack Community College in New York.